


Shades Of Hurt

by wackyjacqs



Series: Bizarre Holidays [69]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s03e18 Shades of Grey, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 20:24:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18059459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wackyjacqs/pseuds/wackyjacqs
Summary: When the doorbell rings, he’s expecting it to be Maybourne or somebody else of an equally shady standing. What he doesn’t expect, is to come face to face with Carter.





	Shades Of Hurt

**Author's Note:**

> Written for ‘Get Over It Day’ (9 March).

When the doorbell rings, he’s expecting it to be Maybourne or somebody else of an equally shady standing. What he doesn’t expect, is to come face to face with Carter, and he’s to work hard to keep his surprise hidden.

“Carter.”

“Hi, sir.”

“Retired.”

“Right,” she utters quietly.

“What do you want?” He asks abruptly after a beat of silence.

“I, ah, I came to talk to you.”

He sees her obvious discomfort at the admission, but he can’t talk to her so he tilts his head slightly and shrugs. “I’m not interested.”

Sam’s brow furrows in confusion and concern, and there’s a flash of hurt in her eyes as he stares unforgivingly.

“I think I deserve an explanation.”

“I don’t owe you anything, Carter.”

“I was your second-in-command for three years, si–”

He glares at her slip-up and when she mumbles an apology, he stands tall and folds his arms across his chest.

“You need to leave. Now.”

“I’m no longer under your command,” she counters. “You can’t order me to do anything.”

“Carter,” he hears himself warn, but before he can say anything further, Sam pushes her way into his house.

He bites back a curse as he closes the door and he takes a few seconds to collect his thoughts. When he finds her, Sam is pacing up and down his living room.

“Don’t be getting comfortable,” he quips as he swipes a bottle of beer from the side table and takes a drink.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I think I made my thoughts on the matter pretty clear during the briefing.”

“Yes,” she hesitates. “You did, but –”

“That technology can help defend Earth against the Goa'uld – yet no-one wants to know.”

“That’s not true,” she argues as she spins around to face him.

“Don’t lie to me, Carter,” he snarls, ignoring the irony in his argument.

“It isn’t as simple as that, sir,” she explains. “The Tollans –”

“The Tollans are sitting there nicely protected from the Goa’uld. Well, good for them,” he mutters sarcastically. “But if they’re just going to sit on their asses and refuse to help us when they have the resources to do so, then they are _not_ our allies.”

“Is that what you really believe?”

He throws his arms up in the air in a ‘what do you think’ gesture as Sam slowly shakes her head.

“So, that’s it? You’re just giving up?”

“No. I’ve said my piece,” he replies as he sets his beer back onto the table and takes a step closer to his former teammate.

“The Goa’uld are still out there, Carter, and Earth is a sitting duck. If they were to attack tomorrow, we’ll either be dead or made into hosts. But let me tell you this,” he adds, taking another step closer, a dangerous tone to his words. “At least my conscious will be clear.”

“You _stole_ alien technology, sir.”

“Oh, do me a favor,” he retorts.

“It doesn’t make sense,” she continues, talking over him. “After everything we’ve been through as a team, the people we’ve met and the battles we’ve won... You’ve saved countless lives, sir. The difference you’ve made –” She stops abruptly and Jack suspects her next words aren’t what she planned to say. “My dad – and Cassie… Are you really just going to walk away from us?”

“What do you want me to say, Carter?”

“This isn’t _you_ , sir.”

_“Sam –”_

_“No,”_ she cuts in firmly, fire in her eyes. “I know you’re a better man than this.”

“That’s where you’re wrong!”

“I don’t think I am.”

“Well, fortunately, I don’t have to give a damn what you think, anymore.”

“I thought we were friends.”

Again, he sees the hurt that he’s caused flash in her eyes but as much as he hates himself right now, he needs her to hate him even more. So, he takes one final step towards her, their faces just inches apart. His words are careful, slow. Deliberate.

“I never once said we were friends.”

He hears the bitterness in his voice and how the brutality of his words drives home the fact that he really isn’t the man Sam thought he was. With his lips just millimeters from hers, he twists the knife in further.

“So, get over it, Carter,” he growls. “And get the hell out of my house.”

It takes a few seconds for Sam to move, and he’s helpless as he watches her push by and leave without saying another word. The silence weighs heavy on his chest but it’s nothing compared to the ache he feels when Sam slams the door behind her and he’s left knowing there’s a very distinct possibility that she’s just walked out of his life forever.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m so sorry this is late. My internet cut out last night.


End file.
